Jürgen Klinsmann wants fans to hold players accountable when they screw up

AUSTIN — Jürgen Klinsmann wants to change the perception of soccer in the United States.

Klinsmann, the U.S. men’s national team coach, recently became the technical director for U.S. Soccer, which allows him to have a role in building a philosophy through the youth national teams, working closely with coaches to develop a higher standard on and off the field.

The goal is to close the gap between the United States and the Argentinas, Brazils and Spains of the world.

“If you miss an easy shot in a game, you want the player to go to the supermarket or the butcher shop the next day and have a fan ask them why they missed that shot,” Klinsmann said while being interviewed during ‘Knocking Down the Door: The U.S. National Team and America’s World Cup Dreams’ at SXSW.

“We’re not there yet. But in the big leagues in Europe and South America, if you miss a shot, you’re held accountable for it. Then you don’t miss it anymore. This is something that will grow over time. The more it grows, the more often fans see (players) in the street and tell them, ‘You were crap yesterday.’ And this is important.”

Soccer in America may never reach the level of professional football, basketball and baseball, but it can certainly gain more respect. Klinsmann understands the process in which this can be achieved.

“The problem is dealing with a generation who settles too early,” he said. “If (American players) can sign a contract in Europe, they think, ‘I made it.’ But what have you done? You’re over there now and in our eyes in the U.S., we give recognition.

“But you talk to people overseas and they say (American players) are just average, nothing special. You want to go for a team that’s top 4-5 in the Premier League, the Bundesliga. Don’t be on the bench, play all the time. I think we just gotta keep them hungry.”

Klinsmann said this kind of overhaul will be a process that will take time. And it starts with young kids, from 8-10 years old.

“I think it all starts with grassroots,” he said. “We want to be part of the 10-15 best (soccer) nations in the world, but to get to a new level, it will take a whole generation to be built. More than 10 years for sure. But that’ doesn’t mean in the short term we can’t have success, especially this summer.”

This summer, of course, is the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the Americans got an extraordinarily difficult draw. They’ll open the tournament against Ghana, who eliminated the U.S. in the last two World Cups, and then face two European powerhouses in Portugal, led by Cristiano Ronaldo, and three-time World Cup champion Germany.

Additionally, the United States has a brutal travel schedule where they will have logged about 9,000 miles in three excruciating tropical climates by the time it finishes group play.

Still, Klinsmann is confident.

“At the end of the day, it’s always both team splaying in the same circumstances,” Klinsmann said. “Ronaldo is playing there too. It’s a very difficult group, we understand that, but it all comes down to the 90 minutes you play.”

Jürgen Klinsmann wants fans to hold players accountable when they screw up

AUSTIN — Jürgen Klinsmann wants to change the perception of soccer in the United States. Klinsmann, the U.S. men’s national team coach, (…)

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